Never one to want to be left out, my dog Stuart demanded that he was the subject of the second painting I did:

Stuart Dreams of Dancing, acrylic on canvas board, signed, 2001

At the time, I was volunteering for PAWS/LA, which was preparing for its major fundraiser of the year, Pet Art. I was surrounded by a lot of pet art and was inspired to try something myself. I donated the resulting paintings to the auction and was astonished when they sold for $250 each. This gave me the confidence to move forward with painting and inspired me to open Pooches Gracias, my online pet portrait gallery (which is in the process of merging with Hollywest.com).